Browse Characters — Learn Chinese Through Stories

Every character has an origin. Discover the pictographs, myths, and history behind each Chinese character — with pinyin, stroke order, HSK level, and audio pronunciation.

cáo

This character looks like 'mouths multiplied' — a

tàn

This 5-stroke character began as a pictograph of a

kǎi

This ‘indignant’ character hides a phonetic secr

hāi

This character was invented in the 1900s as a sigh

suō

Born in southern dialects, 嗦 is a mouth-radical '

Born as a pictograph of a farmer sealing a granary

xiù

This 'smell' character hides a phonetic secret: it

This 'mouth + Y-shaped vessel' character doesn’t

sāng

This character began as a kneeling mourner under a

xuān

This character began as a royal proclamation on a

huàn

Originally a Bronze Age drawing of someone shoutin

chuǎn

This character’s right side depicts a person crus

hóu

Though it means 'throat,' 喉 never appears solo in

This mouth-radical character doesn’t mean 'wind'

This 'cheer particle' looks like a mouth pulling a

shá

A modern phonetic rebel — born in Ming dynasty st

Originally a bronze-age picture of clashing beaks,

kěn

This character began as a bone with meat—and now

tuò

This character began as a pictograph of dripping s

táng

This 'mouth' radical character originally meant 'b

chún

This 'lip' character hides a 2,500-year-old politi

suō

This 'mouth + shrink' character visually captures

hēng

This 'hum' isn't cheerful — it's a nasal eye-roll

Though it looks like a simple 'mouth + beginning'

shào

This 'whistle' character hides a spy: its right si

ó

Born in Ming-Qing novels as a transcription of spo

Born in Ming dynasty novels as a rebellious, mouth

hōng

This character’s nine strokes spell 'mouth + toge